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Kristina Wong

kwong@washingtontimes.com

Kristina Wong was a national security reporter for The Washington Times.

Articles by Kristina Wong

“It reverberates everywhere across the United States. You know, we’re willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign, but we’re not willing to be murdered for it.” - Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. (Associated Press)

Exonerated Gen. Allen up for top NATO command

Marine Gen. John Allen’s nomination to become the next commander of NATO had been postponed pending the outcome of an investigation into allegedly inappropriate emails between him and a married socialite. His exoneration clears the way for him to be confirmed as the alliance's next top leader.

January 23, 2013
Paula Coughlin, the Tailhook whistle-blower in 1991 after she was sexually assaulted, hopes the House hearing will bring attention and action regarding assaults in the military.

Air Force sex-scandal hearing set

The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled Wednesday to open Congress' first open hearing into a massive sex abuse scandal at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio.

January 22, 2013
A Malian soldier walks Jan. 21, 2013, inside a military camp used by radical Islamists and bombarded by French warplanes in Diabaly, Mali, some 460 kilometers (320 miles) north of the capital Bamako. French and Malian troops took control Monday of the town of Diabaly, patrolling the streets in armored personnel carriers and inspecting the charred remains of a pickup truck with a mounted machine gun left behind by the fleeing militants. (Associated Press)

U.S. aids Paris’ bid to ‘thwart’ Mali militants

The Defense Department is providing some support to French troops in their military campaign against al Qaeda in Mali, and is considering more assistance, depending on France's needs, Pentagon press secretary George Little said Tuesday.

January 22, 2013
Rear Adm. Craig Faller, commander of the John C. Stennis Strike Group, is welcomed home by his wife, Martha, as the USS Stennis returned to Bremerton, Wash., in March. The stay was shortened from December to August. (Associated Press)

Close deployments, divided families

Aircraft carrier crews and their families are devising creative ways to cope with the stresses and strains of increasingly long and frequent deployments.

January 17, 2013
** FILE ** Joints Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin E. Dempsey. (Associated Press)

Dempsey: France formally asks for U.S. aid in Mali

The French government has formally requested U.S. military assistance to combat al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Mali, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the American Forces Press Service on Thursday.

January 17, 2013
Hagel

Hagel sees eye-to-eye with Panetta on Pentagon budget, source says

Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel's views on the military budget correspond with those of Pentagon chief Leon E. Panetta, who opposes automatic spending cuts that are set to begin March 1, according to a source close to the Senate confirmation process.

January 14, 2013
**FILE** Syrians inspect the destruction of buildings on Jan. 5, 2013, after heavy shelling by the Syrian Air Force in apparent retaliation for rebel attacks on the nearby Taftanaz military airbase in the village of Binnish, Syria. (Associated Press)

Panetta: No U.S. troops in Syria if chemical weapons used

No U.S. ground troops will be sent to Syria to secure chemical weapons if the Syrian regime falls, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Thursday in the Defense Department's most detailed public comments to date on planning for Syria.

January 10, 2013
** FILE ** Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on Jan. 10, 2013. (Associated Press)

Panetta orders Pentagon to plan for budget cuts

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Thursday that he has directed the Pentagon and each of the Joint Chiefs to start detailed planning for deep cuts in military spending.

January 10, 2013
** FILE ** Pentagon press secretary George Little (center) takes part in an audio news conference with Brig. Gen. Stephen A. Clark of the Air Force Special Operations Command (pictured on a television top right) at the Pentagon on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. (Associated Press)

Pentagon gets to work planning for severe cuts

Defense officials have begun "serious planning" for automatic spending cuts that could force the Pentagon to lay off hundreds of thousands of civilian workers as it reduces its budget by $500 billion over the next 10 years.

January 8, 2013
** FILE ** Then-Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican, speaks during an appearance at Bellevue University in Bellevue, Neb., in 2007. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Hagel is in for tough challenge to lead the Pentagon

As White House officials confirmed Sunday that the president plans to nominate Chuck Hagel on Monday as Pentagon chief, Republicans made it clear that the former senator from Nebraska will face a tough confirmation battle.

January 6, 2013
“In the past, we just said, ‘Hey, if you need us, call us and we’ll be there,’ but now it’s much more specific.” — Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Army chief of staff (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Army plans to shift troops to U.S. Africa Command

U.S. Africa Command, the military's newest regional force, will have more troops available early next year as the Pentagon winds down from two ground wars over the past decade, Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Army chief of staff, told The Washington Times.

December 23, 2012
Scene from "Zero Dark Thirty." (Associated Press)

U.S. on alert for Islamist ire to ‘Zero Dark Thirty’

Could the release of "Zero Dark Thirty" provoke violent protests against the U.S. in response to the film's searing depictions of "enhanced interrogation" — the coercive, super-secret and bitterly debated methods used by the CIA against al Qaeda terrorism suspects?

December 20, 2012
**FILE** This image made on Jan. 12, 2012, from an undated video posted on the Internet by a YouTube user self-identified as "semperfiLoneVoice" shows men in U.S. Marine combat gear standing in a semicircle over three bodies. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta branded as "utterly despicable" the video purporting to show four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters. (Associated Press)

Marine faces court-martial over urination video

The Marine Corps announced Friday it will hold a special court-martial next week for a staff sergeant accused of dereliction of duty during an incident in July 2011 in which Marines were videotaped urinating on Taliban corpses in Afghanistan.

December 14, 2012